Over recent decades, the food environment has changed dramatically, paralleling the rise in the prevalence of obesity [1]. Globally, 36.9% of males and 38.0% of females are classified as overweight or obese [2], and projections estimate that 58% of the population will be overweight or obese by the year 2030 [3]. Alongside this, there has been an increased availability of energy-dense, nutrient-poor foods that can be produced and purchased inexpensively, when compared to healthier options [4, 5]. Globally, dietary intake patterns have shifted towards higher energy-density diets [6], with a 450-kcal/day increase in the availability of calories per capita worldwide from the 1960s to the 1990s [7], and even greater increases (600 kcal/
day) per capita in the USA [8]. Increases in certain food portion sizes [9, 10], snacking frequency [11] and density of fast food restaurants [12] have also been documented. The omnipresent nature of hyper-palatable foods may contribute to problematic eating behaviour and potential weight gain in
vulnerable individuals [13, 14].

A burgeoning body of evidence suggests that there are behavioural [15, 16], neurobiological [16–18] and genetic [19–21] similarities between the consumption of certain foods and addiction-related disorders and that these may have the potential to facilitate overeating and weight gain in susceptible individuals [16, 22]. The relationship between dietary patterns, brain function and mental disorders has been the subject of intense research over recent years [23•]. However, while the term “food” addiction has been wellaccepted by the general public [24], few studies have sought to investigate the specific components of food that promote an addictive-like response in humans. Such a gap in our knowledge has prompted the question of whether addictive-like eating is better conceptualised as a substance-related or behavioural addiction [13, 25]. This review aims to evaluate current research concerning the nutritional aspects of addictive-like eating